Dissertation (M. Tech. (Food Service Management, Dept. of Hospitality and Tourism)) -- Vaal University of Technology / Very poor families, mostly in developing parts of the world, consume a monotonous staple diet out of need and are least likely to eat healthy diets. This study focussed on how the low income households in the urbanised informal settlement of Eatonside used available income to buy plant staples (situation analysis), the share of the food budget Rand allocated to this (investigative survey), as well as the extent of influence of low income, food prices, and locality on the buying behaviour. The aspects of where, how much, when and how low-income households purchased were examined in order to determine the purchasing patterns for plant staples. From the households surveyed, most (62,2%) received an income of less than R500.00/month. Household size affected food purchasing and varied according to the type of household head. Total food budget expenditure by male-headed households was 83,1 percent, 58,1 percent by female-headed households and 27,9 percent by de facto headed households. The total average share/portion of the food budget allocated to purchasing of plant staples was reported as R64.63 ±(R8.04). While male-headed households spent 15 percent of the total share/portion/month allocated to purchasing of plant staples, female-headed households spent 23,1 percent and de facto-headed households spent 21,1 percent. Total average expenditure allocated to plant staples was 58,1 percent for maize meal, 23,2 percent for rice, 4,6 percent for mabella, 3,9 percent for sugar beans, 3,7 percent for samp, 2,5 percent for split peas and 4 percent on various other plant staples. Price and quantity (63,6%) were main purchasing indicators. Less plant staples were purchased when prices were high and more when prices were low. Normally when prices of other food products are high, people buy more staples to survive. Most frequent purchases for maize meal was 12,5 kg (65%) once a month (41,7%) at an average price of R32.80 per unit from spaza shops. Plant staples were mostly purchased once a month (80,2%) at supermarkets (47%) or spaza shops (42%). The urbanised low income households of Eatonside were poor, leading to the allocation of a major component of the budget to food (plant staples). Purchasing patterns, plant staples, low-income households, Eatonside informal settlement. / Central Research Committee of the Vaal University of Technology

The majority of low income households in South Africa have limited access to electricity, and typically cook on stoves fuelled by paraffin. Paraffin represents a fossil fuel. It is a relatively cheap fuel in South Africa. Another fuel that can also be used for cooking is wood pellets, which is a renewable fuel. It can be used in a similar way to that of paraffin and is relatively cheap compared to other renewable energy sources. To investigate if living conditions among low income households can be improved the focus of the study was to evaluate the sustainability of cooking on paraffin and wood pellets. This was done by comparing social, environmental and economic aspects associated with the two cooking fuels. The social aspects were investigated through an interview study, the environmental aspect through a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) and the economic aspects through a partial life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) focusing on the user phase.   The interview study showed that paraffin users considered four aspects as the most important when cooking, namely safety, health, affordability and quality. The study also found that the majority were willing to change to another cooking fuel if these aspects were fulfilled. The LCA showed that both systems score the highest on 9 out of 18 environmental impact categories over a 16-year perspective. The economic analysis showed that the user phase of the wood pellet system is more economically beneficial during the 16-year time period than the paraffin system. It was concluded that wood pellets could be used as an option to paraffin for cooking and would most likely increase living conditions for low income households. / Majoriteten av låginkomsthushåll i Sydafrika har begränsad tillgång till elektricitet och vanligtvis sker matlagningen på paraffinspisar. Paraffin är ett fossilt bränsle. Det är ett relativt billigt bränsle i Sydafrika. Ett annat bränsle som också kan användas för matlagning är träpellets som är ett förnyelsebart bränsle. Det kan användas på liknande sätt som för paraffin och är ganska billigt i jämförelse med andra förnybara energikällor. För att undersöka om levnadsförhållanden för låginkomsthushåll kan förbättras låg fokus för denna studie på att utvärdera hållbarheten för att laga mat på paraffin och träpellets. Detta genomfördes genom att jämföra sociala, miljömässiga och ekonomiska aspekter associerade med dessa bränslen för matlagning. De sociala aspekterna undersöktes genom en intervjustudie, de miljömässiga aspekterna genom en jämförande livscykelanalys (LCA) och de ekonomiska aspekterna gjordes genom en livscykelkostnadsanalys (LCCA) för användarfasen.   Intervjustudien visade att paraffinanvändare anser att fyra aspekter är de viktigaste vid matlagning, nämligen säkerhet, hälsa, kostnad och kvalitet. Studien visade också att majoriteten var villiga att byta till ett annat bränsle för matlagning om dessa aspekter var uppfyllda. Livscykelanalysen visade att båda systemen hade högst miljöpåverkan i 9 av 18 miljöpåverkanskategorier vardera inom ett 16-årsperspektiv. Den ekonomiska analysen visade att under en 16-årsperiod var användarfasen mer kostnadseffektiv för matlagning på träpellets jämfört med paraffin. Studien visade att träpellets kan användas som ett alternativ för paraffin vid matlagning och kommer troligtvis öka levnadsförhållanden för låginkomsthushåll.

The majority of low income households in South Africa have limited access to electricity, and typically cook on stoves fuelled by paraffin. Paraffin represents a fossil fuel. It is a relatively cheap fuel in South Africa. Another fuel that can also be used for cooking is wood pellets, which is a renewable fuel. It can be used in a similar way to that of paraffin and is relatively cheap compared to other renewable energy sources. To investigate if living conditions among low income households can be improved the focus of the study was to evaluate the sustainability of cooking on paraffin and wood pellets. This was done by comparing social, environmental and economic aspects associated with the two cooking fuels. The social aspects were investigated through an interview study, the environmental aspect through a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) and the economic aspects through a partial life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) focusing on the user phase. The interview study showed that paraffin users considered four aspects as the most important when cooking, namely safety, health, affordability and quality. The study also found that the majority were willing to change to another cooking fuel if these aspects were fulfilled. The LCA showed that both systems score the highest on 9 out of 18 environmental impact categories over a 16-year perspective. The economic analysis showed that the user phase of the wood pellet system is more economically beneficial during the 16-year time period than the paraffin system. It was concluded that wood pellets could be used as an option to paraffin for cooking and would most likely increase living conditions for low income households. / Majoriteten av låginkomsthushåll i Sydafrika har begränsad tillgång till elektricitet och vanligtvis sker matlagningen på paraffinspisar. Paraffin är ett fossilt bränsle. Det är ett relativt billigt bränsle i Sydafrika. Ett annat bränsle som också kan användas för matlagning är träpellets som är ett förnyelsebart bränsle. Det kan användas på liknande sätt som för paraffin och är ganska billigt i jämförelse med andra förnybara energikällor. För att undersöka om levnadsförhållanden för låginkomsthushåll kan förbättras låg fokus för denna studie på att utvärdera hållbarheten för att laga mat på paraffin och träpellets. Detta genomfördes genom att jämföra sociala, ekologiska och ekonomiska aspekter associerade med dessa bränslen för matlagning. De sociala aspekterna undersöktes genom en intervjustudie, de miljömässiga aspekterna genom en jämförande livscykelanalys (LCA) och de ekonomiska aspekterna gjordes genom en livscykelkostnadsanalys (LCCA) för användarfasen. Intervjustudien visade att paraffinanvändare anser att fyra aspekter är de viktigaste vid matlagning, nämligen säkerhet, hälsa, kostnad och kvalitet. Studien visade också att majoriteten var villiga att byta till ett annat bränsle för matlagning om dessa aspekter var uppfyllda. Livscykelanalysen visade att båda systemen hade högst miljöpåverkan i 9 av 18 miljöpåverkanskategorier vardera inom ett 16-årsperspektiv. Den ekonomiska analysen visade att under en 16-årsperiod var användarfasen mer kostnadseffektiv för matlagning på träpellets jämfört med paraffin. Studien visade att träpellets kan användas som ett alternativ för paraffin vid matlagning och kommer troligtvis öka levnadsförhållanden för låginkomsthushåll.

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Problems in the public policy decision-making environments are typically complex and continuously evolve. In a resource-constrained environment, several alternatives, criteria, and conflicting objectives must be considered. As a result, solutions to these types of problems cannot be modelled solely using single-criteria techniques. It has been observed that most techniques used to shape energy policy and planning either produce sub-optimal solutions or use strong assumptions about the preferences of decision-maker(s). This difficulty creates a compelling need to develop novel techniques that can handle several alternatives, multiple criteria and conflicting objectives to support public sector decision-making processes. First, the study presents a novel scenario-based multi-objective optimisation framework based on the augmented Chebychev goal programming (GP) technique linked to a value function for analysing a decision environment underlying energy choice among low-income households in isolated rural areas and informal urban settlements in South Africa. The framework developed includes a multi-objective optimisation technique that produced an approximation of a Pareto front linked to an a priori aggregation function and a value function to select the best alternatives. Second, the study used this model to demonstrate the benefits of applying the framework to a previously unknown subject in public policy: a dynamic multi-technology decision problem under uncertainty involving multiple stakeholders and conflicting objectives. The results obtained suggest that while it is cost-optimal to pursue electrification in conjunction with other short-term augmentation solutions to meet South Africa's universal electrification target, sustainable energy access rates among low-income households can be achieved by increasing the share of clean energy generation technologies in the energy mix. This study, therefore, challenges the South African government's position on pro-poor energy policies and an emphasis on grid-based electrification to increase energy access. Instead, the study calls for a portfolio-based intervention. The study advances interventions based on micro-grid electrification made up of solar photovoltaics (PV), solar with storage, combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) and wind technologies combined with either bioethanol fuel or liquid petroleum gas (LPG). The study has demonstrated that the framework developed can benefit public sector decision-makers in providing a balanced regime of technical, financial, social, environmental, public health, political and economic aspects in the decision-making process for planning energy supply interventions for low-income households. The framework can be adapted to a wide range of energy access combinatorial problems and in countries grappling with similar energy access challenges.

The housing shortage in developing countries is one of the challenges of the 21st century. South Africa is no exception. This study has been undertaken to ensure that a bigger picture of this phenomenon can be understood. This study is also an attempt to understand whether governmental actions and interventions are near to addressing the challenges of homelessness for low-income households. In particular, the problem being investigated points to several issues which require extensive research towards possible proposals for future policy interventions. This means that the study takes interest in what the effects of the development and implementation of the national public housing policy in South Africa are. These effects need to be understood and identified for relevant conclusions and recommendations to be drawn. Further, the research problem has been broadened to understand the extent to which the effects of the Housing Act 107 of 1997 and the Gauteng Housing Act 6 of 1998 are conducive to addressing the public housing problems in the Gauteng Province. The literature review undertaken in this study shows that for South Africa, and particularly the Gauteng Province, to be more successful in addressing public housing problems, different approaches and interventions are necessary. This is due to the fact that most successful countries (especially Western countries) have allowed community organisations themselves, not only the government, to become actively involved in the provision of public and low-income housing. Other findings of this study are, inter alia, poor administrative capacities, shortage of land for housing development, housing affordability problems, and lack of sound intergovernmental relations systems. The main recommendation, on the basis of the findings, is that a constitutional review and amendment recommending public housing policy implementation to be the preserve of municipalities should be considered. Several additional recommendations include, inter alia, proposed changes in the hierarchical structures and the adoption of business models that could minimise red tape to improve the turn-around period for beneficiaries in the process of public housing provision in the Gauteng Province.

The housing shortage in developing countries is one of the challenges of the 21st century. South Africa is no exception. This study has been undertaken to ensure that a bigger picture of this phenomenon can be understood. This study is also an attempt to understand whether governmental actions and interventions are near to addressing the challenges of homelessness for low-income households. In particular, the problem being investigated points to several issues which require extensive research towards possible proposals for future policy interventions. This means that the study takes interest in what the effects of the development and implementation of the national public housing policy in South Africa are. These effects need to be understood and identified for relevant conclusions and recommendations to be drawn. Further, the research problem has been broadened to understand the extent to which the effects of the Housing Act 107 of 1997 and the Gauteng Housing Act 6 of 1998 are conducive to addressing the public housing problems in the Gauteng Province. The literature review undertaken in this study shows that for South Africa, and particularly the Gauteng Province, to be more successful in addressing public housing problems, different approaches and interventions are necessary. This is due to the fact that most successful countries (especially Western countries) have allowed community organisations themselves, not only the government, to become actively involved in the provision of public and low-income housing. Other findings of this study are, inter alia, poor administrative capacities, shortage of land for housing development, housing affordability problems, and lack of sound intergovernmental relations systems. The main recommendation, on the basis of the findings, is that a constitutional review and amendment recommending public housing policy implementation to be the preserve of municipalities should be considered. Several additional recommendations include, inter alia, proposed changes in the hierarchical structures and the adoption of business models that could minimise red tape to improve the turn-around period for beneficiaries in the process of public housing provision in the Gauteng Province.